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Historical lexicography and history of words fail to examine the validity of the words in old dictionaries. This gap is attempted to be filled up with this present study on the five-language dictionary (Latin, Italian, German, Croatian, and Hungarian) compiled by Faust Vrančić, a Croatian author, published in 1595, which is analysed by seven criteria. The words analysed are equivalent to Latin nouns and adjectives. The Latin lexemes comprise more than half of the entries, which is a substantial sample to draw general conclusions. It is pointed out in the study that the dictionary provided help primarily in understanding Latin texts. It may have been to the greatest use of speakers of the four (non-Latin) vulgar languages at mother-tongue competence or those who were familiar with them. The dictionary seems not to have been adequate in all cases for those interested in these languages to enlarge their vocabulary.
The Croatian Faust Vrančić published a five-language dictionary (Latin–Italian–German–Croatian–Hungarian) in the year 1595. This study examines to what extent the author knew these languages, apart from Latin. Not only does it scrutinise the knowledge of words of Vrančić but it also restores his awareness of the rules of the different languages, relying us several linguistic data. Vrančić must have had an excellent and active command of all the four languages, as the study finds it. The only difference in his awareness of languages can merely be pointed out in his vocabulary, concerning each. He knew the Hungarian language best and the Croatian language least. It can also be pointed out that the author was very resourceful in the field of lexicography.
Historical lexicography and etymology fail to examine the validity of words in old dictionaries. This gap is attempted to be filled up with the present study on the five-language dictionary (Latin–Italian–German–Croatian–Hungarian) published in 1595 and compiled by a Croatian author Faust Vrančić. In the paper, seven criteria are used. The analyzed words are equivalent to Latin nouns and adjectives. The Latin lexemes comprise more than half of the entries, which is a substantial sample to draw general conclusions. It is pointed out in the study that the dictionary provided help primarily in understanding Latin texts. It may have been to the greatest use of speakers of the four (non-Latin) vulgar languages with mother-tongue competence or those who were familiar with them. The dictionary seems not to have been adequate in all cases for those interested in these languages to enlarge their vocabulary.
The five-language dictionary of Faust Vrančić is the first one which includes separate Croatian word entries. As in the sixteenth century there was no standard Croatian orthography, that of Faust Vrančić is worth studying because the dictionaries influenced the orthography of their users. In the present article, the author examines eight letters signifying consonants. For these letters, there cannot be any precedent in the phonetic and orthographic system of Latin. First of all, the graphics of the letters is presented and the graphemes of Hungarian origin are identified. These latter can be divided into two groups: firstly, the letters loaned by Vrančić from Hungarian-language writings directly, and secondly, those which, although being of Hungarian origin, were taken from the Kaikavian Croatian books printed before the publication of the dictionary. Contrary to the opinion widespread in Croatian scholarly literature, for his work Vrančić did not invent any new letter but consciously selected graphemes extant in other languages.
